How can we understand suffering?
Point of view of a both clinical and phenomenological psychologist
Abstract
Context : suffering is a living personal experience (it is such an inescapable fate) inherent to humankind (only human beings can think of suffering a self impacted pain : I am suffering, I know that I am suffering , I can feel it). At last, suffering is meaningless since it escapes every logic (why me ?) Suffering leaves us facing the mystery of reminiscence : something does exist but we don’t have a prior idea . How to seize this feel ?
Method : We will try to outline a phenomenological description of suffering starting with some theories based on the drastic phenomenology of Michel Henry’ s life. Some clinical examples will illustrate our statements .
The results : Far from being a suffocating experience , suffering challenges us so that we scrutinize our soul : the essence of life .
As a conclusion : In a clinical reflection of the meaning of suffering, you should not lean only on the word suffering or on the undergone or acted act. When we utter suffering we mean a human who is trying to to endorse each lived experience. For the clinical psychologist the outcome is very relevant : His task is to help the suffering person free up the forces of his own transformation.
